A prosthesis of this type may be designed, for example, as a pure prosthetic foot or a knee-foot-prosthesis and serves as a replacement at least for the natural foot. It is particularly important to prevent patients with weak muscular and coordination skills from tripping. Some prostheses are known that contain a microprocessor that is connected to acceleration sensors and, using the signals from the acceleration sensors, determines in which phase of the gait cycle a patient is currently in. The production and maintenance of this type of prosthesis is complex, meaning that not all patients have access to such prostheses.
A prosthesis is described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,709,097 B2 with a microprocessor that, by means of sensor data, measures when the gait progression is far enough along that the joint must be released. The disadvantage of this type of prosthesis is the considerable effort required for its production and maintenance. A prosthesis is described in WO 2014/039 885 A1 which also has a microprocessor and a number of sensors to measure the progression. Threshold values can be stored in the control system, these threshold values then being used to control the actuators of the prosthesis. The production and maintenance of this type of system are also complex.
US 2013/0006386 describes a prosthetic foot that comprises a coupling. This coupling becomes blocked under load and is released when the load is relieved in order to enable an adjustment to gradients and inclines.